New England road marking system
The New England road marking system was an interstate system of marked numbered routes in New England. The routes were marked by a yellow rectangular shield with black numbers and border. Many shields were painted on telephone poles. The routes were approved by the highway departments of the six New England states in April 1922.[1]
Prior to the New England road marking system, through routes were mainly marked with colored bands on telephone poles. These were assigned by direction (red for east-west, blue for north-south and yellow for intermediate or diagonal routes). The Massachusetts Highway Commission convinced the rest of southern New England and New York to use this system in 1915 (New Hampshire and Vermont already had their own schemes, and Maine also opted out), and it was the main system until 1922.[2]
The New England road marking system, while limited to New England, was designed for expansion to the whole country. One- and two-digit numbers were assigned to major interstate routes, with three-digit routes for state routes (marked in a rectangle, with the state abbreviation below the number). In general, odd numbers ran east-west and even numbers ran north-south. The main exception was Route 1, which was to run along the Atlantic coast from Florida to Calais, Maine. A few of the major auto trails were not to be assigned numbers, instead being marked with letters - for instance, L for the Lincoln Highway and R for the Roosevelt International Highway.[1]
In 1926, several of the routes were supplanted by the national United States Numbered Highways. Except for Route 1, which became U.S. Route 1, the old numbers were not used, since the U.S. Highway system uses odd numbers for north-south routes and even numbers for east-west routes. While some of the routes that did not become U.S. Routes were disbanded in the 1930s, many of these other routes still have their numbers today, although the unified signage is no longer used.
List of routes
| New England Route |
Current routes |
Endpoints |
| Route 1 |
U.S. Route 1 |
NY/CT state line (NY 1 towards New York City) to Calais, Maine (towards Saint John, New Brunswick) |
| Route 1A |
RI Route 3 |
Westerly, Rhode Island to Providence, Rhode Island |
| Route 2 |
U.S. Route 5 |
New Haven, CT (Route 1) to Derby Line, VT (Route 143 towards Sherbrooke, QC) |
| Route 2A |
VT Route 5A |
West Burke, VT to Derby, VT |
| Route 3 |
U.S. Route 6 |
NY/CT state line (towards Bedford, NY) to Provincetown, MA |
| Route 4 |
U.S. Route 7 |
NY/CT state line (NY 21 towards Amenia, NY) to Highgate Springs, VT (Route 7 towards Montreal, QC) |
| Route 5 |
U.S. Route 20 |
NY/MA state line (NY 5 towards Albany, NY) to Boston, MA (Routes 1 - 6 - 7 - 28) |
| Route 6 |
U.S. Route 3
MA Route 3 |
Orleans, MA (Route 3) to Colebrook, NH (Route 26) |
| Route 6A |
MA Route 3A |
Kingston, MA to Quincy, MA |
| Route 6A |
NH Route 3A |
Franklin, NH to Plymouth, NH |
| Route 6B |
MA Route 38 |
Cambridge, MA to Lowell, MA |
| Route 7 |
MA Route 2 |
NY/MA state line (NY 7 towards Troy, NY) to Boston, MA (Routes 1 - 5 - 6 - 28) |
| Route 8 |
CT Route 8
MA Route 8
VT Route 8 |
Stratford, CT (Route 1) to Wilmington, VT (Route 9) |
| Route 9 |
VT Route 9
NH Route 9
State Route 9 |
NY/VT state line (NY 9 towards Troy, NY) to Wells, ME (Route 1) |
| Route 10 |
CT Route 9
CT Route 10
MA Route 10
NH Route 10 |
Old Saybrook, CT (Route 1) to Littleton, NH (Route 18) |
| Route 11 |
VT Route 11
NH Route 11
State Route 11
State Route 111 |
Manchester, VT (Route 4) to Biddeford, ME (Route 1) |
| Route 12 |
CT Route 32
CT Route 12
MA Route 12
NH Route 12
VT Route 12 |
New London, CT (Route 1) to Derby, VT (Route 2) |
| Route 12A |
VT Route 12A |
Randolph, VT to Northfield, VT |
| Route 12B |
VT Route 14 |
Hardwick, VT to Coventry, VT |
| Route 13 |
U.S. Route 4 |
Whitehall, NY to White River Junction, VT (Routes 2 - 14) |
| Route 14 |
VT Route 14
U.S. Route 2 |
Burlington, VT (Routes 4 - 15 - 30) to White River Junction, VT (Routes 2 - 13) |
| Route 15 |
VT Route 15
U.S. Route 2 |
Burlington, VT (Routes 4 - 14 - 30) to Houlton, ME (towards Fredericton, NB) |
| Route 16 |
NH Route 16 |
Portsmouth, NH (Route 1) to Errol, NH (Route 26) |
| Route 17 |
MA Route 23
U.S. Route 7
U.S. Route 44
CT Route 2 |
NY/MA state line (NY 23 towards Hudson, NY) to Westerly, RI (Route 1) |
| Route 18 |
U.S. Route 2
VT Route 18
NH Route 18
U.S. Route 302 |
Portland, ME (Routes 1 - 25 - 26) to Montpelier, VT (Routes 12 - 14 - 25) |
| Route 19 |
U.S. Route 302
State Route 11
State Route 196 |
Bethlehem, NH (Route 10 - 18) to Brunswick, ME (Route 1)
In the 1922 plan but was never signed. |
| Route 20 |
U.S. Route 201 |
Brunswick, ME (Route 1) to Jackman, ME (towards Quebec City, QC) |
| Route 24 |
U.S. Route 1 |
Calais, ME to Madawaska, ME
1922 plan was routed Portland, ME to Greenville, ME |
| Route 25 |
U.S. Route 302
NH Route 25
State Route 25 |
Montpelier, VT (Routes 12 - 14 - 18) to Portland, ME (Routes 1 - 18 - 26) |
| Route 25A |
VT Route 25 |
West Topsham, VT to Bradford, VT |
| Route 26 |
State Route 26
NH Route 26
VT Route 26 |
Portland, ME (Routes 1 - 18 - 25) to Colebrook, NH (Route 6) |
| Route 28 |
MA Route 28
NH Route 28 |
Buzzards Bay, MA (Route 3) to Ossipee, NH (Route 16) |
| Route 30 |
VT Route 30
U.S. Route 7
U.S. Route 2 |
NY/VT state line (towards Granville, NY) to Alburgh, VT |
| Route 30A |
VT Route 22A |
Fair Haven, VT to Vergennes, VT |
| Route 32 |
CT Route 12
CT Route 32
MA Route 32
NH Route 32 |
Groton, CT (Route 1) to Newport, NH (Route 11) |
| Route 32A |
U.S. Route 202
NH Route 103 |
Bradford, NH to Hopkinton, NH |
References
- ^ a b Motor Sign Uniformity, New York Times, April 16, 1922
- ^ US-5: A Highway to History